


The Creation of a Promise

by SSspaceshark



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Baby Jason Todd, Fluff, Gen, Reverse Robins, Vomiting, i don't know what else to put, it only happens once
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:35:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26205775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SSspaceshark/pseuds/SSspaceshark
Summary: I just wanted to do a reverse Robin thing with a baby Jason Todd and Damian. It's mostly Damian and Jason though. Sorry. This has way too many commas. This was going to be fluff but it turned into angst.Jason is tired of his family not noticing.
Relationships: Jason Todd & Damian Wayne
Comments: 4
Kudos: 220





	The Creation of a Promise

Seven hours. That's how long it took to notice no one had seen Jason all day. Tim mentioned seeing him last night, Damian saw him too, at dinner. He didn't remember any fights between the younger children that would hurt Jason, or anyone else, enough to make the red head run off. Come to think of it, Jason hadn't said anything at dinner last night either. Did none of them notice? Damian should have, their father should have. The dread was beginning to pool at his chest and make him feel heavy. Something happened, he didn't know what happened, none of them were hanging out the day before, in fact they all had prior engagements. None of them were home until dinner.

Damian had gone to everyone and asked if they knew about anything going on with Jason, but as expected, no one really did. Jason had always kept to himself though, that wasn't really new. But that also meant that Jason only trusted the family so much, his trust was as fragile as fine china. Jason was also spirited and spoke his opinion on matters many times, he could be alone somewhere because that's what he wants. Damian would have seen him by now though. To many scenarios blasted through his mind, what if Jason had been kidnapped right under their noses? How could anyone get past the security system and Titus? What if they said something the day before yesterday or at dinner that hurt Jason? Did he run away? Jason could also have gone exploring and had gotten hurt. 

A search party was called, the family only, they could find Jason faster than the police would anyways. And who's to say that if they do involve the police, that Jason would trust the police. Dick and Tim stayed at the manor while Duke, Bruce, and Damian went on the search. Barbara and the girls were called and informed of the situation, they volunteered to look around Barbara's neighborhood. If you asked Damian who was the best at hiding and going off the grid, Damian would say Jason. Jason knows Gotham and the Manor like the back of his hand, it could take them days to find him if he didn't want to be found. Damian was halfway done with searching the very back alleys of Crime Alley when he noticed a boy in a red hoodie walking briskly away from him with his hands in his pockets. It wouldn't be suspicious if the boy hadn't started running when Damian made to follow him. 

Some of the girls that had begun to occupy the sidewalks tried to stop Damian though, not for his time, but to protect his brother. Damian felt a horrible chill going up his spine. Something was wrong if they assumed Damian would do anything to Jason, maybe someone had fought with Jason. Maybe someone was lying at home.. It took time to calm the ladies glaring at him down, he had to explain that he was worried and hadn't seen Jason since dinner last night. Damian should have expected the scolding he received from them, they clearly cared about Jason too. 

Once they let him pass, he tried to find Jason again. He caught sight of him climbing up a fire escape and into an old, unoccupied building. Damian had to stop himself from rushing in, Jason doesn't do well when cornered. The time it took to get up the fire escape was abysmal. Getting into the building was another thing, Jason had rigged an alarm system with pullies and heavy objects. He could barely see the red of Jason's hoodie through the window. Jason was staring at him, he was still. Damian decided it would be best to sit and wait for his younger brother to open the window for him.

He didn't realize how long it would take though. By the time Jason made his way to the window, it was already the next morning. It took Jason another ten minutes to open the window and invite Damian inside. Damian was careful not to spook his brother who, he can't help but to notice, is all too pale. It had only been what Damian had guessed to be seven hours, was Jason gone longer than that? Was he sick? What happened? Jason, usually confident and ready to fight literally anyone, was fidgeting and quiet. He didn't avoid Damian's eyes though, he stared at Damian with this... sad and hurt... look in his eyes, it made his heart ache. 

"Jason... why have you left home? What happened?" He kept his voice soft and he knelt to meet his brother's height.

Jason looked at the ground. He didn't answer Damian. 

"I cannot help you if you will not tell me anything, Jason." 

Maybe Damian had been the one to wrong him.

"I..." Jason finally speaks, "feel sick."

Damian is not ready for Jason vomiting at his feet, or his overly heated baby brother nearly collapsing. This gave Damian more questions than answers. How long had Jason been ill? Was this new? Was he ill yesterday? Alfred had barely been gone on a vacation for a week and they had neglected to notice how Jason was feeling. Damian's mind was running wild as he carried his brother out of the building and to his car that was too far away in Damian's opinion. The drive wasn't as eventful, they made it to the hospital in record time, his pale brother was taken after an hour wait. An hour. He hadn't even called his father or anyone, he didn't want to leave Jason's side. For the first time in a long time, he was afraid.

Damian only told his father that he was in Gotham General with Jason before he hung up his phone. Time flew from then to now, Jason was okay, he was stable. He had the stomach flu. And from what Damian could hear as his mind halted, was that Jason seemed to have added emotional stress to that. Damian summed it up to the family not noticing, he blamed himself and his father. He could let Tim and Duke slide on this one, Tim wasn't the oldest, Duke wasn't at dinner last night either. The whole family was there but Damian tuned them out. How could they let Jason think they didn't care? They... he needs to fix this.

Jason was discharged the same day and allowed to return home. He was still quiet, but stayed closer to Damian than anyone else. Damian took him up to his bed, Damian tucked him in. Damian was going to take care of him. 

"We do care, Jason, I am sorry that we didn't notice though. You did not hide it. We were too caught up in our own lives to notice." he brushed the hair off of Jason's forehead

Jason stared at him, "It hurt... I stayed home from school..." Jason's voice cracked, "No one noticed..."

"Yes," He sighed, "We are fools. We should be paying attention to things going on with family. We have failed you, Jason, you could have been hurt or worse." 

"I didn't eat dinner..."

"Your favorite, yes, I see that now. Jason, I will never allow this to happen again."

"It will happen again though, you guys get distracted with other people and yourselves... I haven't seen Dick in a week, Damian. A week. Other than dinner, but..." He sniffled

"We... I will manage my things better for you, Jason. I do not want you hurt like this again." Damian couldn't speak for his family, they and he will deal with Alfred next week when he returns though. 

"I don't... I don't want to be forgotten or left behind..." Jason had tears rolling down his fevered cheeks

Damian wiped his tears gently, "I promise that won't happen, Jason. I will fight for you if that happens. I will take you away from here if that happens. You have my word, not only as a Wayne, but as an Al Ghul." 

Jason let out a sob, launching himself into Damian's chest. Damian held the sobbing, feverish boy. He covered him with a blanket and rubbed his back. With his words, a promise was made and Damian does not break them, even if it would inevitably turn his family, other than Jason and Alfred, away from him. Hours later a picture is taken of the two curled up in Jason's bed. A week later Alfred returns and chews them out. Two months later, Jason Todd runs away again, out of Gotham because of his father.


End file.
